Write-once optical disc, and method and apparatus for recording/reproducing management information on/from optical disc

ABSTRACT

A write-once optical disc and a method and apparatus for recording management information on the optical disc are provided. The optical disc includes at least one recording layer and a plurality of temporary defect management areas (TDMAs) on the at least one recording layer. At least one of the TDMAs includes an indicator indicating which one of the TDMAs has an in-use status.

This application claims, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, the priority benefit ofPatent Application No. 2003-054165 filed in Republic of Korea on Aug. 5,2003; Patent Application No. 2003-073088 filed in Republic of Korea onOct. 20, 2003; and Patent Application No. 2004-007608 filed in Republicof Korea on Feb. 5, 2004. The entire contents of each of theseapplications are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a write-once optical disc and anapparatus and method for recording/reproducing management informationon/from the optical disc.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

As an optical recording medium, optical discs on which high-capacitydata can be recorded are widely being used. Among them, a newhigh-density optical recording medium (HD-DVD), for example, a Blu-raydisc, has been recently developed for recording and storinghigh-definition video data and high-quality audio data for a long-termperiod.

The Blu-ray disc involves the next generation HD-DVD technology and isthe next generation optical recording solution, which has an excellentcapability to store data more than existing DVDs. Recently, a technicalspecification of an international standard for HD-DVD has beenestablished. Various standards for Blu-ray discs are being prepared.Particularly the standards for a write-once Blu-ray disc (BD-WO) arebeing proposed.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the structure of a recording area of arewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE) according to a related art. As shown inFIG. 1, the disc is divided into a lead-in area, a data area and alead-out area, starting from an inner radius thereof. Further, the dataarea is provided with an inner spare area (ISA) and an outer spare area(OSA) respectively disposed at the inner and outer radiuses to replacedefective areas, and a user data area provided between the spare areasto record user data therein.

If a defective area is generated in the user data area while data isrecorded on the rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE), data is transferredfrom the defective area to the spare area to replace and record data inthe spare area. This portion of the spare area is known as a replacementarea for replacing the defective area. Additionally, positioninformation related to the defective area, that is, position informationon the defective area and on the corresponding replacement area isrecorded in defect management areas (DMA1, DMA2, DMA3, and DMA4), whichare provided in the lead-in/out areas, to perform defect management. TheBD-RE has a cluster as a minimal recording-unit. One cluster has a totalof 32 sectors, and one sector has 2048 bytes.

Since rewriting can be performed in any area of the BD-RE, the entirearea of the disc can be randomly used irrespective of a specificrecording manner. Also, since the defect management information can bewritten, erased and rewritten in the defect management areas (DMAs), itdoes not matter that the size of the defect management area is small. Inparticular, the BD-RE allocates and uses 32 clusters for each of thedefect management areas (DMAs).

On the other hand, in a write-once disc such as a BD-WO, writing can beonly made once in a specific area of the disc and thus, the manner ofrecording is much limited. As such, defect management becomes one of theimportant matters when data is to be recorded on a high-densitywrite-once disc such as a BD-WO. Accordingly, the write-once discrequires a management area to record therein information on defectmanagement and on disc management. In this regard, the write-onceoptical disc requires a larger management area for recording informationon the defect management and on the disc use state due to its unique‘write-once’ characteristic.

However, a unified standard satisfing the above requirements is notavailable for a write-once disc such as a BD-WO. Further, any standardrelated to presently declared write-once optical discs cannot solve theabove drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a write-once opticaldisc, and an apparatus and method for recording/playing-back managementinformation on/from the optical disc that substantially obviate one ormore problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for recordingdisc management information on a write-once optical disc, a discinitializing method and a disc initial reproducing method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method forseparately recording and managing management information, therebyenhancing the use efficiency of a plurality of temporary defect/discmanagement areas (TDMAs) provided on a write-once optical disc.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a recording medium having at least one recordinglayer, the recording medium comprising: a data area to record user data;a lead-in area and a lead-out area; and a plurality of temporary defectmanagement areas (TDMAs), wherein at least one of the TDMAs includes anindicator identifying a usage status of the TDMAs.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided awrite-once recording medium comprising: at least one recording layer; alead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area on the at least onerecording layer; a separate indicator area in the lead-in area; and anindicator stored in the separate indicator area and identifying whichone of temporary management areas on the write-once recording medium hasan in-use status.

In a further another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of recording management information on a recording medium, therecording medium including a plurality of temporary defect managementareas (TDMAs) on at least one recording layer, the method comprising:recording an indicator in at least one of the TDMAs, the indicatorindicating which TDMA is in use.

In a still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of recording management information on a write-once recordingmedium, the write-once recording medium including a lead-in area, a dataarea, and a lead-out area on at least one recording layer, the methodcomprising: allocating a separate indicator area in the lead-in area ofthe write-once recording medium; and recording an indicator in theseparate indicator area, the indicator identifying which one oftemporary management areas on the write-once recording medium has anin-use status.

In a still another aspect of the present invention, there is provide anapparatus for providing management information on a recording medium,the recording medium including a plurality of temporary defectmanagement areas (TDMAs) on at least one recording layer, the apparatuscomprising: a recording/reproducing part to record an indicator in atleast one of the TDMAs, the indicator indicating which TDMA is an in-useTDMA.

In a still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapparatus for providing management information on a write-once recordingmedium, the write-once recording medium including a lead-in area, a dataarea, and a lead-out area on at least one recording layer, the apparatuscomprising: a recording/reproducing part to allocate a separateindicator area in the lead-in area of the write-once recording medium,and to record an indicator in the separate indicator area, the indicatoridentifying which one of temporary management areas on the write-oncerecording medium has an in-use status.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the structure of a BD-REaccording to a related art;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views respectively illustrating a structure of asingle-layer write-once optical disc and a structure of a dual-layerwrite-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of information recorded in atemporary disc/defect management area (TDMA) of a write-once opticaldisc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an example of a TDMA location indicator(TLI) of a single-layer write-once optical disc according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4B-4E are views illustrating examples of a TDMA location indicator(TLI) of a dual-layer write-once optical disc according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a view illustrating an example of a TLI of a single-layerwrite-once optical disc according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5B and 5C are views illustrating an example of a TLI of adual-layer write-once optical disc according to the second embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6A is a view illustrating an example of a TLI of a single-layerwrite-once optical disc according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 6B and 6C are views illustrating an example of a TLI of adual-layer write-once optical disc according to the third embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are views illustrating examples of different locationsof a TLI on a single-layer write-once optical disc and on a dual-layerwrite-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views illustrating information recorded in a TLIaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are views illustrating the structure of a single-layerwrite-once optical disc having an expanded spare area and a TLI areaaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A, 12B, 13A and 13B are views illustrating the structure of adual-layer write-once optical disc having an expanded spare area and aTLI area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an initializing method according to aspare area allocation mode of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a reproducing/recording apparatus for awrite-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

For description convenience, a write-once optical disc is exemplified asa write-once Blu-ray disc (BD-WO).

FIGS. 2A to 3 are views illustrating a structure of a write-once opticaldisc and a method for recording management information on the discaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Particularly, FIG. 2A illustrates a single-layer write-once optical disc(e.g., a single-layer BD-WO) having one recording layer according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, thesingle-layer optical disc includes a lead-in area 30, a data area 40 anda lead-out area 50 in the inner to outer radius direction. The data area40 includes inner and outer spare areas (ISAO) and (OSAO), and a userdata area 42. The lead-in area 30 and the outer spare area OSAOrespectively include temporary disc/defect management areas (TDMA0) and(TDMA1).

In addition, a plurality of disc/defect management areas (DMA1˜DMA4) areprovided in the lead-in and lead-out areas 30 and 40. While the TDMAsstore defect/disc management information temporarily, the DMAs store thedefect/disc management information more permanently. For instance, whenthe disc is to be finalized, the management information stored in a TDMAis transferred to and stored in each of the DMAs.

FIG. 2B illustrates a dual-layer write-once optical disc (e.g., adual-layer BD-WO) having two recording layers according to an embodimentof the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2B, the dual-layer opticaldisc includes a first recoding layer (Layer 0) and a second recordinglayer (Layer 1). Each of the recording layers includes management areas(Inner Areas) and (Outer Areas) in the inner and outer radius areas ofthe disc. The DMAs 1-4 are provided in each of the recording layers.

The dual-layer disc further includes a data area 45 in each of therecording layers, each data area having a user data area 47 for storingtherein user data. Inner and outer spare areas ISAO and OSAO areprovided in the data area 45 of the first recording layer (Layer 0).Inner and outer spare areas ISA1 and OSA1 are provided in the data area45 of the second recording layer (Layer 1). The size of the ISAO isfixed whereas the size of each of the OSA0, OSA1 and ISA1 is variable.For instance, the size of the ISA1 may be (L*256) clusters, and the sizeof the OSA0 and OSA1 may be (N*256) clusters, where N and L are positiveintegers.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the TDMAs on the dual-layer write-once disc includeTDMA0 and TDMA1 each having a fixed size (for example, 2048 clusters) inthe Inner Area, and TDMA2, TDMA3 and TDMA4 that are providedrespectively in the spare areas OSA0, OSA1 and ISA1 having a variablesize. The sizes of the variable TDMAs vary according to the sizes of thecorresponding spare areas.

For the dual-layer disc, the TDMA0 and TDMA1 should be necessarilyprovided on the disc, whereas the TDMA2, TDMA3 and TDMA4 may beselectively allocated with their various sizes being, e.g., a ¼ size ofthe corresponding spare area. That is, the TDMA2 and TDMA3 may haveappropriate sizes of P=N*256/4 clusters, and the TDMA 4 may have anappropriate size of Q=L*256/4 clusters, where N and L are positiveintegers. For the single-layer disc, the TDMA0 should be necessarilyprovide don the disc, while the TDMA1 may be selectively provided.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, asingle-layer write-once optical disc (e.g., a single-layer BD-WO) canhave the maximum of 2 TDMAs. A dual-layer write-once optical disc (e.g.,a dual-layer BD-WO) may have the maximum of 5 TDMAs.

Hereinafter, the structure and characteristics of the optical disc shownin FIGS. 2A and 2B are discussed. For description convenience, thedual-layer write-once optical disc is exemplified.

First, the write-once optical disc should include a plurality of areasfor recording a variety of management information of the disc thereindue to its write-once property. As such, the optical disc according tothe present invention includes a plurality of TDMAs in addition to aplurality of DMAs.

According to the present invention, the plurality of TDMAs are used in aspecific use sequence/order. For example, the TDMAs can be used in thesequence of the TDMA0 to TDMA4 in the dual-layer disc, or in thesequence of the TDMA0 and then the TDMA1 in the single-layer disc. Forinstance, in the case of the dual-layer disc, as user data recording isperformed on the disc, appropriate information (e.g., TDDS, TDFL, etc.as shown in FIG. 3 to be discussed later) is recorded into the emptyTDMA0 first. When the TDMA0 is full (i.e., fully used up) with suchinformation recorded therein, then the empty TDMA1 is next used torecord therein appropriate information associated with the user datarecording. Once the TDMA1 is fully used up, then the TDMA2 is next usedand so on. It is noted that the TDMAs can be used according to anydesignated sequence as desired. Identification numbers (TDMA0 to TDMA4)are given to the TDMAs in a serial sequence depending on a use sequence.

Furthermore, the write-once optical disc according to the presentinvention includes a separate area in which management information formanaging the plurality of TDMAs is recorded. Such management informationis referred to herein as a TDMA location indicator (TLI). The TLI canalso be referred to as a TAI (TDMA access indicator). The TLI indicateswhich TDMA, among all the TDMAs that are to be used according to adesignated sequence, is an “in-use TDMA”. An “in-use TDMA” is a TDMAthat is currently being used/accessed or that is currently available foruse, among all the TDMAs having the designated use sequence. Accordingto the various embodiments, the in-use TDMA indication by the TLI can beimplemented using a TDMA in-use indicator or a TDMA full indicator,which will be discussed later in more detail.

The TLI allows an initial disc access time to be reduced greatly sincethe TLI identifies the in-use TDMA and thus, information on the lastdefect management and on the disc use state can be quickly obtained fromthe identified in-use TDMA. This is beneficial especially when the discis initially loaded. Without the TLI, all the TDMAs have to be scannedto determine which TDMA is the in-use TDMA in order to obtain thenecessary management information from that in-use TDMA.

The TLI according to the present invention can be provided in variousareas of the disc. Specifically, the TLI can be provided anywhere in themanagement areas (the lead-in area, the lead-out area and the like) ofthe disc, which are accessible by an optical recording/reproducingapparatus to obtain a variety of disc information prior to the actualreproduction. In the single-layer disc of FIG. 2A, for instance, a TLIcan be provided in the lead-in area 30. In the dual-layer disc of FIG.2B, a TLI can be provided in the lead-in area at the first recordinglayer (Layer 0). Other examples of locations at which the TLI can beallocated will be discussed later.

FIG. 3 illustrates a variety of information on the disc defectmanagement and on the disc use state, where this information is recordedin the TDMA(s). Whenever recording is performed on the disc, therecording is generally performed by more than one cluster, a clusterbeing generally a minimal recording-unit. Various disc managementinformation recorded in the TDMA (e.g., TDM0, TDMA1, TDMA2, TDMA3, orTDMA4) is collectively referred to herein as TDMS (temporary discmanagement structure) information. The TDMS information can be changedor added depending on a standard.

As shown in FIG. 3, the TDMS information includes, but is not limitedto, a Temporary Defect List (TDFL) for recording disc defect managementinformation, a Sequential Recording Range Information (SRRI) applied ina sequential recording mode as information for representing the disc usestate, a Space-Bit Map (SBM) applied in a random recording mode, and aTemporary Disc Definition Structure (TDDS) information including recentlocation information of the TDFL and the SRRI (or SBM). The SRRI and theSBM may not be concurrently used, and either the SRRI or SBM is recordedon the disc depending on the recording mode.

As an example, in the context of the disc structure shown in FIGS. 2Aand 2B, each of the TDMA0˜TDMA4 includes one or more TDFLs/SBMs/SRRIseach recorded with a TDDS in one cluster at each recording/updatingtime, as shown in FIG. 3. That is, each recording of a TDFL/SBM/SRRIwith a TDDS is allotted one cluster. Generally, the last sector of eachsuch cluster is designated to store therein the TDDS information asshown in FIG. 3. However, the first sector, instead of the last sector,of each such cluster can also be used to store the TDDS information.

The TDDS information includes general disc record/playback information,and is generally always checked at the time of loading the disc in therecord/playback apparatus since it includes pointer information forindicating the recent locations of the TDFL and the SRRI (or SBM) asdescribed above. According to the disc use state, the TDDS informationis continuously updated and the updated TDDS information is written inthe TDMA at each update/recording time. Thus, the last TDDS (e.g., thelast TDDS 51 in FIG. 3) in the latest TDMA used should be checked toaccess a variety of management information on a current disc use state.

As described above, the TDMAs for recording the TDMS information thereinare used in a specific use sequence. For example, if the TDMA0 is allused up in updating the TDMS information according to a need, the nextTDMA according to the use sequence, e.g., the TDMA1, is then used tostore therein the updated TDMS information. The present inventionprovides a TLI (TDMA management information) which identifies which TDMAamong all the TDMAs having the specific use sequence is the in-use TDMA,and this method according to various embodiments will be now describedreferring to FIGS. 4A-6C. The TLI structures and use of FIGS. 4A-6C areapplicable to the TLIs and the disc structures shown in FIGS. 2A and 2Band subsequent FIGS. 7-11A and 12A, or to any other disc structure thatneeds a TLI.

FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate the structure of a TLI according to a firstembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment provides a TLIhaving one or more TDMA in-use indicators. More specifically, FIG. 4Aillustrates the structure of a TLI in a single-layer write-once opticaldisc having one recording layer, and FIGS. 4B to 4E illustrate thestructure of a TLI in a dual-layer write-once optical disc having tworecording layers. Referring to FIG. 4A, assume that the single-layerwrite-once optical disc has two TDMAs (TDMA0) and (TDMA1), e.g., asshown in FIG. 2A and the TDMA0 and TDMA1 are used in that sequence. Thenthe TLI 52 includes a TDMA1 in-use indicator 53 having a size of asingle recording-unit such as a single cluster 52 a. The TLI 52 managesthe two TDMAs with the one cluster 52 a. The TDMA1 in-use indicator 53indicates directly whether or not the corresponding TDMA1 is the in-useTDMA. This indication is implemented by providing certain recording inthe one cluster 52 a of the TLI 52. If the TLI cluster 52 a has thiscertain recording therein, then the TLI cluster 52 a is said to be inthe ‘recorded state’. If the TLI cluster 52 a des not have this certainrecording therein, then the TLI cluster 52 a is not in the recordedstate. If the TLI cluster 52 a (the TDMA1 in-use indicator 53) is not inthe recorded state, it means that the firstly used TDMA0 is thein-use-TDMA. If the TLI cluster 52 a is in the recorded state, it meansthat the second used TDMA1 is the in-use-TDMA, which means the firstlyused TDMA0 is full, i.e., fully used up, so that there is no recordingspace in the TDMA0.

In other words, if the firstly used TDMA0 becomes full, e.g., during theuser data recording operation of the disc, then the TDMA1 according tothe designated use sequence will be used to record data as the user datarecording operation continues. At this point, designated certain datawill be recorded into the TLI cluster 52 a to place the TLI cluster 52 ain the recorded state. The recorded state of the TLI cluster 52 aindicates that the TDMA1, not the TDMA0, is now the in-use TDMA, i.e.,currently available for use during the user data recording operation.Accordingly, by examining the recorded/unrecorded state of the TLIcluster(s), a recording/reproducing apparatus can identify quickly whichTDMA can and should be currently used during a data recording operationof the disc. This reduces the disc access time greatly and provides anefficient and effective way to carry data recording operations of thedisc.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, if thesingle-layer write-once disc has more than two TDMAs, then the totalnumber of TLI clusters present in the TLI changes according to the totalnumber of TDMAs present on the disc. For instance, if there is an Xnumber of TDMAs on the disc, then there is an (X-1) number of TLIclusters in the TLI. Each of the TLI clusters corresponds to one of theTDMAs, generally excluding the first TDMA in the order of the TDMA usesequence.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the recording ofdesignated certain data into the TLI cluster(s) to place the TLIcluster(s) in the recorded state can be realized in many ways. Forinstance, a high frequency signal can be recorded in the TLI cluster(s)which would make it easier to check whether or not the TLI cluster(s)are in the recorded state. In other examples, dummy data or certain realdata (not dummy data) can be recorded in the TLI clusters. An example ofrecording the real data in the TLI cluster(s) will be described laterreference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

The use and structure of the TLI for a dual-layer write-once opticaldisc according to the first embodiment of the present invention is asfollows. Referring to FIG. 4B, the dual-layer write-once optical discmay have up to five TDMAs (TDMA0 to TDMA4) and thus, four clusters 55a-55 d are allocated as a TLI 55, one TLI cluster corresponding to oneof the TDMA1-TDMA4. In this example, the TDMAs are used sequentiallyfrom the TDMA0 to TDMA4. The first through fourth TLI clusters 55 a-55 dof the TLI correspond respectively to the TDMA1-TDMA4, and respectivelyrepresent TDMA1 to TDMA4 in-use indicators 56-59. Thus, these clusters55 a-55 d are thus sequentially recorded in the increasing address(e.g., PSN) direction. This is indicated by the arrow (“recordingdirection”) in FIG. 4B. That is, if a particular TLI cluster is in therecorded state, this implies automatically that any of its previous TLIclusters are already in the recorded state. For instance, if the secondTLI cluster is in the recorded state, this means the first TLI clusteris already in the recorded state.

Accordingly, if all 4 clusters 55 a-55 d of the TLI are not in therecorded state, it means that the firstly used TDMA0 is the in-use-TDMA.If only the first TLI cluster 55 a (TDMA1 in-use indicator 56) is in therecorded state, it means that the TDMA0 is full and the TDMA1 is thein-use TDMA. If the first and second TLI cluster 55 b (TDMA2 in-useindicator 57) is in the recorded state, it means that the TDMA0 andTDMA1 are full and the TDMA2 is the in-use-TDMA. If the third TLIcluster 55 c (TDMA3 in-use indicator 58) is in the recorded state, itmeans that the TDMA0-TDMA2 are full and the TDMA3 is the in-use-TDMA. Ifthe fourth TLI cluster 55 d (TDMA4 in-use indicator 59) is in therecorded state, it means that the TDMA0-TDMA3 are full and the TDMA4 isthe in-use-TDMA.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 4C, if the first and second TLI clusters55 a and 55 b are in the recorded state, it means that the TDMA0 andTDMA1 are full and the in-use-TDMA is the TDMA2.

Accordingly, by checking the TLI and determining the TLI cluster(s)after the disc is loaded, the recording/reproducing apparatus canidentify the location of the currently in-use TDMA (i.e., it candetermine which TDMA is the in-use TDMA). Thus, therecording/reproducing apparatus can quickly move to a start location ofthe in-use TDMA to read the lastly recorded TDMS information, therebyinitially obtaining a variety of initialization information forreproduction. If there is no TLI as in the related art, therecording/reproducing apparatus must scan all of the TDMAs beginningfrom the TDMA0 to determine which TDMA is currently available for use.And this creates a drawback that a long time is needed for initialreproduction.

FIG. 4D illustrates a TLI structure of the dual-layer write-once disc inwhich the recording direction of the TLI clusters is reversed comparedto the recording direction of the TLI clusters shown in FIG. 4B.Referring to FIG. 4D, in this example, the recording of the TLI 55 issequentially performed from a cluster having a high Physical SectorNumber (PSN) to a low PSN, i.e., from the fourth to the first TLIclusters 55 d-55 a. The first through fourth TLI clusters 55 a-55 d nowcorrespond to the TDMA4 through TDMA1, respectively, and function as theTDMA4-TDMA1 in-use indicators 59-56, respectively. Here the TDMAs areused sequentially from the TDMA1 to TDMA4.

The use of the TLI recording direction of FIG. 4D is an effective way toeliminate interference with an Optimum Power Calibration (OPC) area (notshown) disposed adjacently to the corresponding CDMA in case the TLIexists at a head portion of the TDMA0 as shown in FIG. 7, which will belater described.

As an example of use of the TLI of FIG. 4D, in FIG. 4E, if the fourthand third TLI clusters 55 d and 55 c are in the recorded state, it meansthat the TDMA0 and TDMA1 are full and the usable TDMA (in-use) is theTDMA2.

FIGS. 5A to 5C illustrate the structure of a TLI according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the TLIindicates which TDMA is the in-use TDMA by indicating which TDMA(s) arefull. More specifically, FIG. 5A illustrates the TLI structure of thesingle-layer write-once optical disc and FIGS. 5B and 5C illustrate theTLI structure of the dual-layer write-once optical disc. In theseexamples, assume that the TDMAs are used sequentially from the TDMA0 tothe TDMA1 (single-layer disc), or to the TDMA4 (dual-layer disc) asdiscussed above.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in the example of the single-layer disc, a singlecluster 62 a is allocated for a TLI 62. This cluster 62 a functions as aTDMA0 full indicator 63. In other words, if the TDMA0 is full, the TLIcluster 62 a (TDMA0 full indicator 63) is indicated as being in therecorded state. This means that the TDMA1 is the in-use TDMA and can beused. If the TLI cluster 62 a is not in the recorded state, it meansthat the TDMA0 is not yet fully used up and is available for use. Thatis, the TDMA0 is the in-use TDMA and can be used.

As shown in FIG. 5B, in the dual-layers write-once disc, first throughfourth clusters 65 a-65 d are allocated for a TLI 65 and are recordedsequentially in that order in this example. The first to fourth cluster65 a-65 d correspond to the TDMA0 to TDMA3, respectively, and functionas TDMA0-TMDA3 full indicators 66-69, respectively. Each TLI clusterindicates whether or not the corresponding TDMA if full.

Accordingly, for instance, whenever the TDMA0 to TDMA3 are full, allfour clusters 65 a-65 d of the TLI 65 would be in the recorded state,which means the TDMA4 is the in-use TDMA. If no TLI cluster is in therecorded state, it means that the TDMA0 is the in-use TDMA. If only thefirst TLI cluster 65 a is in the recorded state, it means that the TDMA0is full and the in-use-TDMA is the TDMA1. If only the first and secondTLI clusters 65 a and 65 b are in the recorded state as shown in FIG.5C, it means that the TDMA0 and TDMA1 are fully used and the TDMA2 iscurrently available for use.

FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate the structure of a TLI according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the TLIindicates which TDMA is the in-use TDMA by indicating which TDMA(s) arefull. A difference from the second embodiment is that the TLI includesan additional TLI cluster. In the example of FIGS. 6A-6C, assume thatthe TDMAs are used sequentially from the TDMA0 to the TDMA1(single-layer disc), or to the TDMA4 (dual-layer disc) as discussedabove.

As shown in FIG. 6A, in the example of the single-layer disc, twoclusters 72 a and 72 b are allocated for a TLI 72. The first and secondTLI clusters 72 a and 72 b function respectively as a TDMA0 fullindicator 73 and a TDMA1 full indicator 74. Accordingly, if only theTDMA0 is full, the first TLI cluster 72 a (TDMA0 full indicator 73)alone is indicated as being in the recorded state. This means that theTDMA1 is the in-use TDMA and can be used. If the first TLI cluster 72 ais not in the recorded state, it means that the TDMA0 is not yet fulland is available for use. That is, the TDMA0 is the in-use TDMA and canbe used. If both the first and second TLI clusters 72 a and 72 a are inthe recorded state, then the TDMA0 and TDMA1 are all full, which meansthere is no TDMA available for recording management information. In thiscase, the disc should be closed/finalized.

As shown in FIG. 6B, in the dual-layers write-once disc, first throughfifth clusters 75 a-75 e are allocated for a TLI 75 and are recordedsequentially in that order in this example. The first to fifth cluster75 a-75 e correspond to the TDMA0 to TDMA4, respectively, and functionas TDMA0-TMDA4 full indicators 76-80, respectively. Each TLI clusterindicates whether or not the corresponding TDMA if full.

Accordingly, for instance, If no TLI cluster is in the recorded state,it means that the TDMA0 is the in-use TDMA. If only the first TLIcluster 75 a is in the recorded state, it means that the TDMA0 is fulland the in-use-TDMA is the TDMA1. If only the first and second TLIclusters 75 a and 75 b are in the recorded state, it means that theTDMA0 and TDMA1 are fully used and the TDMA2 is currently available foruse. If all five TLI clusters 75 a-75 e are in the recorded state asshown in FIG. 6C, it means that the TDMA0 to the TDMA4 are all fullyused up and there is no usable TDMA. In this case, since thecorresponding disc has no area for recording the TDMS informationtherein, the disc is finalized/closed.

FIGS. 5A to 6C illustrate the TLI used in a sequence starting from theTLI cluster having a low PSN to the TLI cluster having a high PSN.However, the recording direction of the TLI in FIGS. 5A-6C can bechanged so that the TLI clusters are used sequentially in the order ofdecreasing address as shown in FIGS. 4D and 4E.

As discussed previously, the TLI (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 4A-6C) can belocated in the lead-in area of the single layer or dual-layer disc asshown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIGS. 7 to 9 now illustrate differentlocations at which the management information (TLI) can be recorded onthe disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shownin the examples of FIGS. 2A, 2B and 7-9, any location of the TLI on thedisc is acceptable if it is located within an area which arecording/reproducing apparatus can initially recognize as themanagement area. In this regard, the data area of the disc may beexcluded.

For instance, as shown in FIG. 7, the TLI is provided at the headportion of the TDMA0 on a single-layer (Layer 0) write-once optical discor on a dual layer (Layers 0 and 1) write-once optical disc, such as asingle-layer or dual-layer BD-WO. In the alternative, as shown in FIG.8, the TLI can be provided at the end portion of the TDMA0 of thesingle-layer/dual-layer write-once disc. As another alternative, asshown in FIG. 9, the TLI can be provided within one, some or each of theDMAs of the single-layer/dual-layer write-once disc.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate two examples of different contents of theTLI according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although FIGS.10A and 10B show one TLI cluster, each cluster of the TLI can have thesame content structure. Particularly, FIGS. 10A and 10B are examples ofrecording certain real data into the TLI cluster(s) to selectively placethe TLI cluster(s) into the recorded state. Some or all of such realdata recorded in the TLI can be directly used to indicate whether or notthe TLI cluster(s) is in the recorded state so as to identify the in-useTDMA as discussed above. The use of such real data has an advantage inthat additional relevant information can be provided by the TLI inaddition to the indication of the current in-use TDMA. It should benoted, however, that dummy data or any other designated signals can berecorded into the TLI cluster(s) to indicate the recorded/unrecordedstate of the TLI cluster(s). The TLI content structures of FIGS. 10A and10B are applicable to the TLI and disc structures shown in FIGS. 2A-9and 11A-13B.

According to one example as shown in FIG. 10A, the TLI cluster, whichcorresponds to a particular TDMA as discussed above, includes the latestTDDS information associated with the TDMA corresponding to the TLIcluster, in addition to the information indicating whether thecorresponding TDMA is the in-use TDMA. The features of FIG. 10A areparticularly useful in the second embodiment (FIGS. 5A to 5C) and thethird embodiment (FIGS. 6A to 6C). For example, in case where the lastTDDS is recorded in the last cluster of each TDMA, the TDMA includingthe latest TDDS and the in-use-TDMA can be different from each other,which in turn can cause errors when accessing the disc. By providing theadditional information in the TLI as in FIG. 10A, such an error can beprevented.

A detailed description of this situation is as follows by referring toFIG. 10A. First, assume that the TLI is recorded in cluster units, acluster being the minimal recording-unit. In the first sector (Sector 0)of the TLI cluster having 32 sectors, there exist an identificationfield 82 (“TLI identifier”) for allowing the recognition of the TLIinformation, a TLI format information field 83 (“TLI format”) relatedwith a version of the current disc, and a TLI update count field 84(“TLI update count”) for increasing a count value by 1 whenever the TLIis updated. The update count field 84 can also be used even as theinformation for indicating how many clusters may be present within theTLI. Further, there exists a TDDS location field 85 (“Latest TDDSlocation”) for providing information on the TDMA in which the latestTDDS information is located.

The remaining area 86 of the first sector (Sector0) of the TLI clusteris used to indicate the recorded or unrecorded state of the TLI clusterby using a predetermined value (for example, setting the field to “00h”). For instance, if the remaining area 86 of Sector 0 of the TLIcluster has certain designated recording, that the TLI cluster can besaid to be in the recorded state to indicate the usage status of thecorresponding TDMA as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 4A-6C.

The TDDS location field 85 in the first sector (Sector 0) of the TLIcluster identifies a TDMA in which the latest TDDS information isrecorded irrespective of whether or not that TDMA is fully used up. Forexample, the values of this field 85 can be defined so that “0000 0000b”means the latest TDDS exists in the TDMA0, “0000 0001b” means the latestTDDS exists in the TDMA2, “0000 0011b” means the latest TDDS exists inthe TDMA3, and “0000 0100b” means the latest TDDS exists in the TDMA4.Other examples are possible. Accordingly, as an example, if the firstcluster within the TLI alone is in the recorded state (e.g., the area 86of the first TLI cluster 65 a in FIG. 5B is in the recorded state) andthe TDDS location field 84 (i.e., of the first TLI cluster 65 a in FIG.5B) has a value of “0000 0000b”, it means the usable TDMA is the TDMA1,but the last updated TDDS (latest TDDS information) is located withinthe TDMA0 on the disc.

In addition, the latest TDDS information is recorded into a TDDSinformation field 87 (“Latest TDDS”) of the second sector (Sector 1 ofthe TLI cluster). As a result, the TLI can be utilized even forrecovering the latest TDDS information directly. This is advantageoussince, even if the latest TDDS information recorded in the latest TDMAas part of the TDMS information is damaged, the important TDDSinformation will not be lost since it can recovered from the TLIrecorded in the TDMA0. Some or all of the remaining sectors (88) of theTLI cluster can have a copy of the latest TDDS information stored in theTDDS information field 87. Each TDDS information is recorded in onesector size. Thus, for instance, if 3 sectors of the TLI cluster areeach recorded with the same latest TDDS information, this means that thelatest TDDS information is stored three times in the TLI.

The latest TDDS information stored in the field 87 of the TLI clustercan be the last TDDS information or the first TDDS information. Forinstance, if the TLI cluster utilizes a TDMA in-use indicator instead ofa TDMA full indicator and the TDMA corresponding to the TLI clusterbecomes the in-use TDMA, then recording in the field 86 is made toindicate that the corresponding TDMA is currently in use. At this time,the first TDDS information recorded in the corresponding TDMA is copiedand recorded into the TDDS information field 87 of the TLI cluster asthe latest TDDS information. The first TDDS information is recorded inthe field 87 because the corresponding TDMA is still in use and is notfull at that time.

On the other hand, if the TLI cluster utilizes a TDMA full indicatorinstead of a TDMA in-use indicator and the TDMA corresponding to the TLIcluster becomes full, then recording in the field 86 is made to indicatethat the corresponding TDMA is full. At this time, the last TDDSinformation (in the last sector) recorded in the corresponding TDMA iscopied and recorded into the TDDS information field 87 of the TLIcluster as the latest TDDS information. The last TDDS information of thecorresponding TDMA is recorded in the field 87 because the correspondingTDMA is full and no additional TDDS information cannot be recorded intothe corresponding TDMA.

Accordingly, according to a time point when the TLI is updated, thelatest TDDS information recorded in the TLI can be the last TDDSrecorded within the corresponding TDMA (e.g., when the correspondingTDMA is full), or can be the first TDDS recorded within the in-use-TDMA(i.e., when the corresponding TDMA is currently available for use).

As another example, the latest TDDS information can be copied up to 32times into the TLI cluster. Any remaining sector of the TLI cluster canbe set to a certain value such as 00 h if it is not used. Since eachTDDS information recording is allotted with one sector size, this meansthe entire TLI cluster can be recorded with the same latest TDDSinformation up to 32 times as shown in FIG. 10B. Again, depending on thetype (in-use or full) of indicator used in the TLI cluster, the latestTDDS information can be the first or last TDDS information recorded inthe corresponding TDMA as discussed above. In the example of FIG. 10B,the recording of the latest TDDS information is directly used as theTDMA in-use/full indicator of the TLI cluster. This is an example ofusing the recording of real data (such as the TDDS information) in theTLI cluster to selectively indicate whether or not the TLI cluster is inthe recorded state. Thus, the TLI cluster, not only indicates which TDMAis the in-use TDMA, but also provides the latest TDDS informationassociated with the corresponding TDMA.

The TLI content structure shown in FIG. 10B is useful in the firstembodiment (FIGS. 4A to 4E). For example, if the in-use-TDMA is theTDMA1, the corresponding TLI cluster is placed in the recorded state. Atthis time, the first TDDS information recorded in the correspondingTDMA1 is recorded in that TLI cluster.

FIG. 11A to 13B illustrate the disc structure and the TLI structureaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, in case where a spare area (SA) is allocated in an expandedSA mode, the location of the in-use-TDMA is not only indicated, but alsoan in-use duration/area is indicated among the areas/durations of theTDMA existing within the expanded spare area. Particularly, FIGS. 11Aand 11B illustrate the structure and use of a TLI in the single-layerwrite-once optical disc, and FIGS. 12A-13B illustrate the structure anduse of a TLI in the dual-layer write-once optical disc. In theseexamples, the in-use indicators, in stead of the full indicators, areused in the TLI.

More specifically, FIG. 11A illustrates the structure of thesignal-layer write-once optical disc having an expanded spare area (SA)and the TDMA0 and TDMA1 used in that sequence. The expanded SA or theexpansion of the spare area means that the spare area (e.g., OSA0)existing following the end of the user data area is allocated with thesize falling within 50% of the maximal disc recording capacity byconsidering a future utilization when the disc is initialized. As theouter spare area (OSA0) is expanded, the TDMA1 existing within the outerspare area (OSA0) is expanded together.

In case where the TDMA1 is expanded in a specific size, thecorresponding areas of the TDMA1 can be expanded accordingly. Theexpanded TMDA1 areas are respectively indicated as “M1”, “M2” and “M3”in FIGS. 11A and 11B. In this case, the TLI is divided into a portion 90(“TLI1”) for indicating which TDMA is the in-use TDMA and a portion 91(“TLI2”) for indicating a specific duration within the expanded TDMA1.The TLI1 is has the size of one cluster, whereas the TLI2 has the sizeof two clusters.

If the TDMA1 has a greatly larger size than the TDMA0, e.g., due to theSA expansion and if the TLI 90 (without the portion 91) alone isallocated as the TLI, then the TDMA1 may need to be scanned from thebeginning to locate the last recorded location within the TDMA1 becauseof its large size when the TDMA1 becomes the in-use TDMA. This, however,can cause a drawback in that a long access time is required. Therefore,the present invention according to this embodiment divides the expandedTDMA1 into a plurality of durations (or areas), and in case where thecorresponding TDMA1 duration/area is fully used, this status isindicated in the TLI by the portion 91. This can reduce the disc accesstime significantly.

For instance, in FIG. 11A, assume that the expanded TDMA1 is dividedinto three same-sized durations/areas (M1, M2 and M3). Two clusters 91 aand 91 b are then allocated for the recording of the TLI2 (91) as shownin FIG. 11B as an example. The two clusters 91 a and 91 b of the TLI2(91) correspond respectively to the M3 and M2 of the TDMA1 and indicatewhether the corresponding area (M3 or M2) is currently in-use. Themanner in which the clusters 91 a and 91 b are used to indicate theavailability of the different TDMA areas/durations can be the same asthe different ways of indicating the usage status of each TDMA asdiscussed above in connection with FIGS. 4A-6C and 10A-10B. Forinstance, if the TLI1 (90) indicates that the TDMA1 is the in-use TDMA,the M2-TDMA1 in-use indicator (91 b) indicates whether or not the M2 ofthe TDMA1 is currently the in-use TDMA area; and the M3-TDMA1 in-useindicator (91 a) indicates whether or not the M3 of the TDMA1 iscurrently the in-use TDMA area out of the TDMA1. As an example, if theTLI1 (90) and both clusters (91 a and 91 b) of the TLI2 (91) aredetected to be in the recorded state, this means that the M3 of theTDMA1 is currently the in-use area of the TDMA1.

If the expanded TDMA1 is divided into an “m” number of the same-sizeddurations/areas (M1, M2, . . . , Mm), the (m-1) number of clusters areallocated for the recording of the TLI2 (91). Although the TLI2 is usedto indicate the usage status of the areas of the TDMA1 in the example ofFIG. 11B, the TLI2 can be used to indicate the usage status of the areasof any TDMA that is expanded according to the expansion of thecorresponding SA.

In FIGS. 11A and 11B, the location at which the TLI is recorded on thedisc will be within a specific management area, e.g., as shown in anyone of FIGS. 7 to 9. However, for description convenience, the TLI(=TLI1+TLI2) is shown in FIG. 11A to be located at the end portion ofthe TDMA0, for example. For description convenience, the TLI structureillustrates in FIG. 11B the case where the in-use TDMA is indicated asshown in the first embodiment (FIGS. 4A to 4E).

FIG. 12A illustrates the structure of a dual-layer write-once opticaldisc having an expanded SA and the TDMA0-TMDA4. In the dual-layeroptical disc, the spare area existing following the end portion of theuser data area is the inner spare area (ISA1) at the second recordinglayer (Layer1). Therefore, the spare area (ISA1) may be expanded to havethe size falling within 50% of the maximal disc recording capacity. Asthe spare area (ISA1) is expanded, the TDMA4 existing within the sparearea (ISA1) is also expanded together. It is also possible to expand anyother variable spare area on the disc with the TDMA therein alsoexpanded.

As shown in FIG. 12A, in case where the TDMA4 is expanded to a specificsize, the TDMA4 is divided into a specific number of same-sizeddurations/areas. These durations/areas are respectively identified asN1, N2, . . . , N5. Accordingly, the TDMA0 includes a TLI as shown inFIG. 12B. The TLI includes a TLI1 (93) for indicating which TDMA is thein-use TDMA by using four clusters 93 a-93 d, and a TLI2 (94) forindicating the specific usage status of the durations/areas of theexpanded TDMA4 by using four clusters 94 a-94 d. If the expanded TDMA4is divided into an “n” number of the same-sized durations/areas (N1,N2,. . . , Nn) as described in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the (n-1) number ofclusters is allocated for recording of the TLI2 (94).

The first to fourth clusters 93 a-93 d of the TLI1 (93) correspondrespectively to the TDMA4-TDMA1 and function respectively as theTDMA4-TDMA1 in-use indicators. The first to fourth clusters 94 a-94 d ofthe TLI2 (94) correspond respectively to the N5-N2 of the TDMA1 andindicate whether the corresponding area (N5, N4, N3 or N2) is currentlyin-use. The manner in which these TLI clusters 93 and 94 are used toindicate the availability of the different TDMA and TDMA areas/durationscan be the same as the different ways of indicating the usage status ofeach TDMA as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 4A-6C and 10A-10B.

In FIGS. 12A and 12B, the location at which the TLI is recorded on thedisc will be within a specific management area, e.g., as shown in anyone of FIGS. 7 to 9. However, for description convenience, the TLI(=TLI1+TLI2) is shown in FIG. 12A to be located at the end portion ofthe TDMA0, for example. For description convenience, the TLI structureillustrates in FIG. 12B the case where the in-use TDMA is indicated asshown in the first embodiment (FIGS. 4A to 4E).

Although the TLI2 (94) is used to indicate the usage status of the areasof the TDMA4 in the example of FIG. 12B, the TLI2 can be used toindicate the usage status of the areas of any TDMA that is expandedaccording to the expansion of the corresponding SA.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate an example of how the TLI in FIG. 12A and12B can be used.

As shown in FIG. 13A, assume that the TDMA0, the TDMA1, the TDMA2 andthe TDMA3 of the disc are currently fully used up and that it iscurrently in use of a specific duration/area of the last TDMA4, forexample, the N3 duration.

As shown in FIG. 13B, since the TDMA0, the TDMA1, the TDMA2 and theTDMA3 are full and the last TDMA4 is currently in use (i.e., the TDMA4is the in-use TDMA), the four clusters 93 a-93 d of the TLI1 (93) arerecorded (e.g., with real or dummy data) to be in the recorded state.Further, since the N1 and N2 durations/areas of the TDMA4 are full, thenthe third and fourth clusters 94 c and 94 d of the TLI2 (94) are placedto be in the recorded state to indicate that the N3 of the TDMA4 iscurrent in-use.

FIG. 14 illustrates a disc initialization method according to anembodiment of the present invention. This method can be implemented inany disc structure and TLI structure discussed herein.

Referring to FIG. 14, when the disc is initialized (S119), a user orsystem determines the spare area mode of the disc (S120). This can bedone using any existing technique, e.g., based on user input or a modesignal/data recorded on the disc. If the spare area mode is in the“normal” mode, the TLI is allocated on the disc with a size one less(x-1) than the number (x) of TDMAs allocated on the disc (FIGS. 4A-5C),or the TLI is allocated on the disc with the same number (x) as the TDMAallocation number (x) (FIGS. 6A-6C) (S121).

If the spare area mode is determined to be in the “expand” mode at stepS120, the size of the TDMA existing within the expanded spare area isexpanded and the expanded spare area is divided into a specific number(y) of the same-sized durations/areas. The TLI2 is allocated on the discwith the size one less (y-1) than the divided specific number (y)(S122). In this case, similarly, the TLI 1 is allocated on the disc withthe size one less (x-1) than the total number (x) of TDMAs allocated onthe disc (S122). In this regard, steps S122 and S123 can be implementedaccording to the TLI structure discussed in connection with FIGS.11A-13B.

The method of FIG. 14 and any other method discussed herein according tothe embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in anydisc/TLI structure discussed herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a recording/reproducing apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. The methods of the presentinvention can be implemented by the apparatus of FIG. 15 or othersuitable device/system. The recording/reproducing apparatus includes arecording/reproducing unit 10 for performing reproduction and/orrecording from/on an optical disc, and a control unit (or host) 20 forcontrolling the recording/reproducing unit 10. The control unit 20 sendsa record command or a reproduce command for a specific area on the discto the reproducing unit 10. The recording/reproducing unit 10 performsthe recording/reproduction in the specific area according to the commandof the control unit 20. The recording/reproducing unit 10 can employ anoptical drive.

The recording/reproducing unit 10 can include an interface unit 12 forperforming communication with an external device such as the controlunit 20; a pickup unit 11 for directly recording or reproducing datato/from the optical disc; a data processor 13 for receiving thereproduction signal from the pickup unit 11 to convert the receivesignal into appropriate signal values, or for modulating ato-be-recorded signal into an appropriate recording signal for theoptical disc; a servo unit 14 for controlling the pickup unit 11 toprecisely read the signals from the optical disc, or to precisely recordthe signals on the optical disc; a memory 15 for temporarily storing avariety of information including the management information and data;and a microprocessor 16 for controlling the operations and structuralelements within the unit 10.

An example of a description of a disc reproduction method using theinventive TLI in the apparatus of FIG. 15 is as follows.

If a disc is loaded, the recording/reproducing unit 10 obtains a varietyof recorded disc information from the loaded disc. Specifically, if theloaded disc is a write-once optical disc, for example, a BD-WO asdiscussed herein, the microprocessor 16 checks the recorded/unrecordedstate of the TLI cluster(s) at a designated location (e.g., from thehead portion of the TDMA0) within the management area to obtain the lastrecorded location within the in-use-TDMA.

Accordingly, after the location of the in-use-TDMA is obtained byaccessing the TLI, the in-use-TDMA is scanned from the beginning toobtain the last recorded TDMS information, or the TDDS information maybe obtained from the TLI. A portion of the obtained TDMS information istransmitted to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20 uses thetransmitted TDMS information to transmit again the reproduction commandto the recording/reproducing unit 10, thereby performing thereproduction using the recording/reproducing unit 10.

An example of the method of recording the inventive TLI using theapparatus of FIG. 15 is described as follows.

The microprocessor 16 records the TDMS information in the plurality ofTDMAs, which are determined and used in a specific use sequence. Forexample, first the TDMA0 begins to be used. If the TDMA0 is fully usedup, a specific TLI cluster is recorded to be in the recorded state asdiscussed above, whereby the TDMA1 is indicated as the in-use TDMA.

When the disc is in an idle state or in a disc eject state after thedisc recording is all finished, the location of the in-use-TDMA ischecked such that the above operation can change the specific clusterwithin the corresponding TLI to be in a batch recording state.

As described above, the present invention has an advantage in that inthe write-once optical disc, the access time to obtain the location ofthe in-use-TDMA is reduced significantly, thereby greatly enhancing theuse efficiency of the write-once optical disc using the TDMAs. Further,other information such as the latest TDDS information can be recorded inthe TLI, which can be accessed and used as needed, especially if theTDDS information stored in the TDMAs is damaged.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus,it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A recording medium comprising: at least one temporary management areafor storing management information before the recording medium isfinalized, wherein the temporary management area is used in a designatedorder; and at least one access indicator for indicating which one of thetemporary management area is currently in use when a correspondingtemporary management area is used, wherein the access indicator islocated in one of the temporary management area.
 2. The recording mediumof claim 1, wherein the access indicator is located on a lead-in areawhich is located in an inner radius of the recording medium.
 3. Therecording medium of claim 1, wherein the access indicator is located ata head portion of the one of the temporary management area.
 4. Therecording medium of claim 1, wherein the one of the temporary managementarea is a temporary management area which is used first.
 5. Therecording medium of claim 1, wherein a total number of the accessindicator depends on a total number of the temporary management area. 6.The recording medium of claim 1, wherein each of the access indicatorcorresponds to each of the temporary management area except for atemporary management area which is used first among the TDMAs.
 7. Therecording medium of claim 1, wherein each of the access indicatorconsists of a cluster.
 8. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein if atemporary management area is used, an access indicator which correspondsto the used temporary management area has recorded data.
 9. Therecording medium of claim 5, wherein each of the access indicatorindicates whether or not the temporary management area is full.
 10. Amethod of recording management information on a recording mediumincluding at least one temporary management area for storing managementinformation before the recording medium is finalized, the methodcomprising: recording the management information on one of the temporarymanagement area, wherein the temporary management area is used in adesignated order; and creating at least one access indicator to indicatewhich one of the temporary management area is currently in use when acorresponding temporary management area is used, wherein the accessindicator is located in one of the temporary management area.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the access indicator is created on a lead-inarea of the recording medium.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theaccess indicator is created at a head portion of the one of thetemporary management area.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein each ofthe access indicator corresponds to each of the temporary managementarea.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the access indicatorconsists of a cluster.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the creatingstep includes recording data on an access indicator which corresponds toa temporary management area currently in use.
 16. The method of claim13, wherein each of the access indicator indicates whether or not thecorresponding temporary management area is full.
 17. An apparatus forrecording management information on a recording medium including atleast one temporary management area for storing management informationbefore the recording medium is finalized, the apparatus comprising acontrol unit for: controlling the management information to be recordedon one of the temporary management area, wherein the temporarymanagement area is used in a designated order; and creating at least oneaccess indicator to indicate which one of the temporary management areais currently in use when a corresponding temporary management area isused, wherein the access indicator is located in one of the temporarymanagement area.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the control unitcreates the access indicator in a head portion of one of the temporarymanagement area.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the control unitcontrols data to be recorded on an access indicator which corresponds toa temporary management are currently in use.
 20. The method ofreproducing data recorded on a recording medium including at least onetemporary management area for storing management information before therecording medium is finalized, the method comprising: determining whichtemporary management area, among the temporary management area beingused in a designated order, is currently in use based on at least oneaccess indicator within the recording medium; reading the managementinformation from a temporary management area that is determinedcurrently in use; and reproducing the data from the recording mediumbased on the read management information, wherein the access indicatoris located in one of the temporary management area.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the access indicator is located on a head portion ofthe one of the temporary management area.
 22. The method of claim 20,wherein the determining includes checking whether or not each of theaccess indicator has recorded data.
 23. An apparatus for reproducingdata recorded on a recording medium including at least one temporarymanagement area for storing management information before the recordingmedium is finalized, the apparatus comprising a control unit for:determining which temporary management area, among the temporarymanagement area being used in a designated order, is currently in usebased on at least one access indicator within the recording medium;controlling the management information to be read from a temporarymanagement area that is determined currently in use; and controlling thedata to be reproduced from the recording medium based on the readmanagement information, wherein the access indicator is located in oneof the temporary management area.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, whereinthe access indicator is located on a head portion of the one of thetemporary management area.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein thecontrol unit determines which temporary management area is currently inuse by checking whether or not each of the access indicator has recordeddata.